Chapter 5

Xu Baize followed closely behind, growing increasingly impatient. He thought to himself, "Could it be that ordinary people and these magical artifacts are simply unable to resonate?" As they moved forward, they came across a smooth stone threshold. On the other side of the threshold was a deep cave, but the cave walls were already covered with sparse spider webs, and the dust on the ground grew thicker and thicker.

"If you keep feeling around and still can't sense anything, you should put on that snow-white armor you saw when you first came in. Its thickness should be able to withstand the attacks of monsters. And there's the demon-catching gourd at the entrance of the cave; that's your tool for work. If you want to be extra safe, take this sword as well." Xu Baize casually picked up a five-foot-long, oversized sword and handed it to Yi Yun. Seeing how easily Xu Baize lifted it, Yi Yun casually took it, only to find that the sword weighed at least a hundred pounds. He stumbled and nearly fell to the ground.

"Master Xu, what's inside the cave? Should we go further in?" Yi Yun, panting, held the sword, clearly sensing Xu Baize's dismissive attitude. He was genuinely worried and hoped to find a better magical artifact to protect himself.

"There's nothing inside. Didn't you see the spider webs and the dust? It's been thousands of years since anyone has been in there. The cave is too deep. The previous witch department heads spent a lot of effort to clear all the magical artifacts out to the outside. Inside, there are only empty stone platforms." As Xu Baize finished speaking, a small purple badge on his waist began to flash.

"Oh! The pills are ready!" Xu Baize hurriedly walked out, instructing, "Feel your way out one by one. If you still can't sense anything, carry this sword and put on that snow-white armor outside! Oh, and remember to take the gourd!"

After saying "gourd," Xu Baize took out a talisman, turned into a purple light, and disappeared.

"Damn it!" Yi Yun cursed under his breath, looking into the cave filled with spider webs. This was a matter of life and death, so no matter how much he wanted to be lazy, he had to push forward.

Pushing aside the spider webs, he walked in. The stone platforms on both sides were indeed empty, and Yi Yun felt a bit discouraged. Still, he held onto the belief that treasures are often hidden deep, and he took another step forward.

"Crack!"

A crisp sound under his foot echoed in the deep cave, startling Yi Yun and making him retreat a few steps. Looking down, he saw a two-foot-long, dust-covered brown-yellow flute.

Picking it up, he found it was a broken flute, clearly missing a section. The brown-yellow body of the flute had five evenly spaced holes.

From its length, it was already much longer than a typical flute. He couldn't imagine how long it would be if it weren't broken. As soon as he held the brown-yellow flute, the outermost hole began to glow with a faint purple light.

"Hey! Could this be the resonance Master Xu mentioned?" Yi Yun was pleasantly surprised but then became disheartened, "I'm really a failure, to have a reaction with a broken, apparently discarded artifact."

"Click... click..."

A small black dot jumped onto his hand.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" Yi Yun looked at the black dot on his hand. It was the black, silicone-like thing he had encountered at the place where Xu Baize refined monsters. He impatiently asked, "Click... click..."

The thumb-sized black ball, with its large eyes taking up most of its body, made rapid sounds, clearly trying to communicate something.

"Damn it, I can't understand you!" Yi Yun pinched the small black ball, "Are you a monster or some strange thing?"

"Click... click..."

The black ball made rapid sounds again. Yi Yun rolled his eyes, "I can't understand you. Even if you are a monster, you're like a flea in the monster world."

The black ball, clearly agitated, jumped onto the flute in Yi Yun's hand, causing the flute to flash.

The first hole flashed a dazzling purple light, which quickly disappeared. Then the second hole lit up with a white light, which also disappeared quickly. The third hole then lit up with a bright red light, followed by the fourth hole with a golden light, and finally, the fifth hole with a green light.

After the flute flashed with purple, white, red, gold, and green lights, the black ball jumped back onto Yi Yun's arm and continued to make rapid sounds, clearly showing its satisfaction.

"Hey! You're so excited just because this broken thing flashed?" Yi Yun pressed the black ball flat on his hand, "Still excited?"

The black ball immediately made a series of comfortable-sounding clicks.

The texture of the black ball, like silicone, was very comfortable to press. It was a great stress-reliever. After a series of shocks, Yi Yun really needed to relax, so he started to play with the black ball.

Whether he flattened it, shaped it into a ball, or stretched it, the black ball made comfortable-sounding clicks, much like the sounds a person makes when they are being massaged.

"Hey, you're pretty resilient," Yi Yun praised the black ball, which responded with a clearly satisfied click.

"Yi Yun! Have you picked one yet?" Xu Baize's voice came from outside the cave. Yi Yun panicked, looking at the broken flute in his hand: relying on this thing for survival seemed unreliable.

"Whoosh!"

A gust of wind, and Xu Baize stood impatiently beside Yi Yun. "I told you there's nothing in here. Why are you wasting time?"

Seeing the broken flute in Yi Yun's hand, Xu Baize snatched it, and the flute immediately flashed with a purple light, followed by a slow white light from the second hole.

"Huh? Can this measure my cultivation?" Xu Baize looked at the broken brown-yellow flute in surprise.

"Cultivation?" Yi Yun felt a small surge of excitement at Xu Baize's surprise: Could he have really gotten lucky and found a significant magical artifact?

"In the world of cultivation, one's cultivation level is used to measure a practitioner's strength. Over nearly ten thousand years, the various systems and standards have gradually evolved into five stages: Purple, White, Red, Gold, and Green." Xu Baize touched the broken flute again, and it flashed with a purple light, followed by a not-so-bright white light. "My cultivation is at the fifth level of the White stage. This thing lights up with a white light, so it must be a few thousand years old and used to measure cultivation."

"Wow! So I found a treasure!" Yi Yun became even more excited when he heard "a few thousand years."

"You found junk. This is a relic from thousands of years ago, and it's useless. The latest 250th generation cultivation measurement bead can directly determine the stage and level of cultivation, much more accurately than this." Xu Baize threw the broken flute to Yi Yun. "This is even broken, so it's probably just trash."

Touching the broken flute, the first hole lit up with a very faint purple light.

"See? It still uses the intensity of the light to roughly determine cultivation. Someone like you, an ordinary person, should naturally have a cultivation level of one or two in the Purple stage. If you use the 250th generation cultivation measurement bead, it would directly show your level." Xu Baize looked at the faint purple light and became even more disappointed. "So weak. You're probably at the first level of the Purple stage, and a low one at that. It seems your innate spiritual energy is not strong."

Hearing this, Yi Yun felt disheartened: it seemed he was a failure no matter where he went. Looking at the faint purple light, a thought flashed through his mind: the black ball made all the holes light up to the green stage. What kind of cultivation would that be?

Thinking this, he asked, "Master Xu, if the last hole lights up with a bright green light, what does that mean?"

"Green light!" Xu Baize was surprised, then exaggeratedly said, "That's impossible. I've never even heard of the Green stage. It's said that thousands of years ago, some cultivators barely reached the Gold stage, but that's just a legend. The Green stage is just a defined stage, probably created to honor the ancient cultivators."

"If the green light were to shine brightly..." Yi Yun was also amazed: the light wasn't as simple as he thought.

"Impossible, impossible." Xu Baize waved his hands before Yi Yun could finish. "Talking about this is meaningless. Hurry up and pick a magical artifact. I'm already annoyed. I've been refining pills for half a year, and they all lack any spiritual energy, turning into useless pills. I'm about to go crazy, and you're wasting my time with this nonsense."

"But could the broken flute be giving an inaccurate reading because it's damaged?" Yi Yun was pushed out by Xu Baize, turning to look at the impatient, middle-aged man.

"Impossible. Are you saying that your low-level Purple stage cultivation was misjudged by this broken flute?" Xu Baize looked at Yi Yun with disdain. "Even though this artifact from thousands of years ago isn't as accurate as the 250th generation measurement bead, it would never give an incorrect reading."

"Damn it, that's not what I meant... I was..." Yi Yun opened his mouth to mention the black ball.

Xu Baize's face, twisted with impatience, disdain, and annoyance, stared at Yi Yun like a paralyzed face. "Accept your fate. You're at the initial first level of the Purple stage, a low one. Quickly pick a few magical artifacts for protection. I don't have much free time."

"Damn!" Yi Yun was completely speechless by Xu Baize's expression. He looked around, hoping to find the black ball to prove his point, but it had disappeared. Feeling dejected, he cursed and resigned himself to being pushed out of the cave by Xu Baize.